Railroad-switch



A.- HODGE. SELF ACTING SWITCH;

No. 8,722. Patented Feb. 10, 1852.

V i ;UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

fAMos HODGE, or ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILROAD-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,722, dated February 10, 1852.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I AMos Homes, of Adams, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad Switches and Turnouts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention,

reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification, and. in which Figure 1 represents a plan of a portion of a rail road track and two turn-outs with my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same.

The objects of my invention isto prevent the accidents which are continually occurring on rail roads from the omissionon the .part of the switch. tender to shift the. switchesto l their proper positions for the;

passage of a train; and it consiss of an arrangement'of levers and track by whose operation the switches of a track are always maintainedin apro-p er position for the clirect passage 'of a train of cars along the main track, unless shifted purposely to run the train" uponthe turn-out, and are always returned to that position automatically when the train has passedtby whose operationalso the switches shift automatically by the passage of the train when the latter is running from a turn-out toward the main track, and are maintained in that position by the train until the. last car has passed, when the switches return automatically to their proper position for the direct passage of the train along the main track and are also secured automatically by a bolt.

;In the accompanying drawings A, A, represent-the rails of a main track and B B, B B, the rails of two turn-outs which diverge from opposite sides of the maintrack. The switchesdcl, which connect the main track with either. of the turn-outs are pivoted attheir moving extremities to a cross bar f, which. is connected by a link rod g with a hand shifting lever H of the usual construction placed at .the side of the track.

The opposite extremities of this cross bar are borne toward the center of the track by springsJ J which return the switches to their central position whenever the force by which they have been shifted in either direction from that position is removed The cross bar and its springs are all supported at one side of a cross tie K, to whose opposite side a locking apparatus 1s secured.

This apparatus consists ofa bolt 1 whose direction is at right angles with those of the cross tie and cross bar, of a spring m by whose actlo-n the a bolt 1s driven forward through a slot in the cross tie into a socket in the cross bar, and of the apparatus for withdrawing the bolt from this socket to permit the crossbar and the switches to be shifted.

At the side of the track is a lever O which i 'ispivoted to the same frame as the switch lever H;this lever is connected by a link rod '12. with the one arm of a bell crank C which is pivoted at the intersectionof its arms between the rails of the main track in such a position that its opposite arm a bears against a collar upon the lock bolt Z, so that by moving the lever O the lock bolt is detached from the cross bar to permit the switches tobe shifted by the movement of the swtich lever. As the switch-lever and locklever are pivoted side byside to. the same frame,.they arein a convenientposition to be operated by the switch tender V when the carsare to betransferred from the main track to. either of the turn-outs, while the action of the springs. J J is such that when the levers are released the switches are immediately returned to their central position, and when there the lock bolt Zis driven forward by its spring m to lock the switches in place. I

The arrangement thus fartdescribed is sufficient to insure the automatic return of the q switches to'their central position and to their maintenance inthat position, for the direct passage of trains along. the main track. In order to cause them to shift automatically when .cars are passing from either turneout toward the main track additional mechanism isrequired, as follows: The upper surface of the outer rail of each turn out is s'ocketed to recelve a 132.111" of levers .20 p which are pivoted attheir' opposite extremities. to the main rail, and are connected at their adjoining extremities in such manner that these can be raised so as to form the two sidesofa triangle of which the socket in the rail is the base, or depressed without being disengaged from each other; this joint in the present instance is formed by a pin upon one lever 27 w l iichworks in a longitudinal slotin the ,efi d 'of the other lever p. These levers are .maintained in their raised position as shown in Fig. 2 by means of springs, which in present instance are obtained by constructing one of the levers p of a spring plate which tends to rise whenever the force by which it has been depressed is removed. The joint of the levers is connected with the upper extremity of a wedge formed plate D which is arranged to move vertically in a slot formed in the main rail B. The front inclined side of this plate is slotted'to admit av pin 0 which is secured to the hinder extremity of a sliding bar E, so that when the levers are depressed by the wheels of a car running over them this sliding bar is moved forward; and when the levers rise after the car wheels have passed this slidingbar is drawn back. This sliding bar has a dog 7) let into its lower side, and a lever F is pivoted to the superstructure of the road in such a position with respect to the dog and to the lock bolt Z, that when the sliding bar is moved forward its dog, striking the outer as the sliding bar has moved sufficiently forward to effect the unlocking of the switches its further movement forces the inclined side of the horizontal wedge block against the inner side of the pin 71 and moves it and the cross bar and switches to their proper position for connecting the turn out with the main track. This position of the switches is maintained as long as the car wheels are running over the levers, to keep them depressed, afterwhich the rising of the levers would withdraw the horizontal wedge block and permit the switches to return to their central position; but the levers are too short to be held down continuously during the passage of a long car or of the. successive cars of a train, and it is alsonecessary that the switches should be maintained in their lateral position until the cars have passed 0]? them. In order to effect. these objects the front extremity of the 1 sliding bar is notched to form a hook 0, and a bar G, having a corresponding hook 7' upon its extremity, is supported by'radius bars 70 at the outer side of the switch rail (Z. This bar is maintained in a raised posi- E, thus retaining the latter in its forward position, and consequently causing the horizontal wedgeblock Q to maintain the switch in its lateral position, until the wheels of the last car have passed over the switch.

When this has taken place the hook ended extremity of the dog lever, thus releasing the latter and permitting the lock bolt Z to be borne by its spring against the face of the cross bar f to be ready to reengage in the socket thereof and lock the switches as soon as they are returned to their central posi tion after the passage of the train. The dog 6 is pivoted in a socket in the sliding bar and depends therefrom by its gravity,-so that as this bar is returned to its backward position the dog striking with its inclined face the extremity of the dog lever F rises to pass over the latter, and when it is passed falls again to be in place for oper ating it.

, From the construction and operation of a the mechanism thus described itisflevident that the switches always maintain' their proper positions for the direct passage of a train along the main track unless forcibly moved therefrom, and they are always rel j turned to that position when the force by wh ch they have been, shifted is removed. This arrangement therefore prevents the occurrence of accidents from the omission on the part of the switch-tender to shift the switches to their central position after the passing of a train to or from a turn out. It 1s also evident that themechanism thus described shiftsthe switchesautomatically as a train is passing from aturn-out to the main track, and not only maintains the switches in their proper position during this passage but restores them to their central position after cars have passed to reopen the ,3

main line pThis mechanism therefore also prevents the occurrence of accidents from the omission on the part of the switch-tender to shift the switches' forthepassage of a train to the main track and to restore them socket into which they are received when depressed must be of greater depth than their thickness, in order that the wheels may be supported by the-main rail and that the spring rails may not be rolled out by the action of the wheels and thus have their elasticity destroyed. v I

It will be evident to the skilful engineer that the arrangement and construction of, the various parts of this device may be to vary the apparatus as circumstances may requlre.

I claim 1. The system of levers, lock bolt, and

springs arranged substantially as herein described in such manner that the switches are and shifted as described and when shifted are automatically returned to their position in the line of the main track and locked there as soon as the force by which they were shifted is withdrawn. H

2. In combination with the above I claim the system of jointed levers, wedge blocks, sliding bars dogs, dog lever, and hook ended bar, or their equivalents acting substantially as herein described in such manner that the switch is shifted automatically to permit a train to pass from a branch to the main track and is maintained in such position until the last car has passed off it when it returns automatically to restore the continuity of the main track.

In testimony whereof have hereunto subscribed my name.

AMOS HODGE. Witnesses:

OG. B. DUNCAN, THEODORE HASTINGS. 

